


There Might Very Well Be Hope

by secret_daydreamer



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 08:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6187213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secret_daydreamer/pseuds/secret_daydreamer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Legolas runs Thranduil decides he might not want to lose his son after all and allows Tauriel to go after him. Will they finally clear up all misunderstandings and find their way to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There Might Very Well Be Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Very OOC but I try.  
> Enjoy!

It was long after the battle that Tauriel remained hunched over the dwarf's body. Tears had stopped falling but she couldn't bring herself to leave his side. He had been such an inspiring, curious little creature. She had found herself constantly enjoying his company. As opposed to a certain ellon, Kili was warm hearted and always a delight to be around. She had loved him, in her own way, but loved him nonetheless. But as much as she had wished she was, she hadn't been in love with him.  
"I wish I could have loved you, Kili. But somebody else had captured my heart long before you'd seen the light of this world. I am deeply sorry, for everything."  
"Captain.", the voice startled her, as she hadn't expected anyone to be walking the battlefield any longer than they had to, much less her King. She stood and bowed before him.  
"My King, is there anything you wish me to do?", she asked.  
"Not momentarily", there was a pause before he spoke again, "I came to tell you that Legolas has left on a mis-sion. He wished for me to tell you goodbye on his behalf."  
"Legolas has left? So soon after such a battle. Could it not have waited?", she realized her mistake too late and instantly apologized. "I'm sorry, my king. I did not wish to be disrespectful, I was merely concerned for the Prince’s wellbeing. The battle was hard on all of us and I do not think it... what I am so ineptly trying to say is that I would not have suggested a quest so soon after a tiring battle, which might have effects on his attentive-ness and fitness in possible combat."  
The King looked at her, his expression unreadable, then let out a breath, almost resembling a sigh and stated: "My son has left of his own volition. I do not quite approve, either, but he has made it clear that he wishes to stay away from our kingdom for a while."   
Tauriel was surprised by his openness, usually he would have told her something in the means of 'As the prince he has to fulfill his duty, no matter what.' but today something was different. There was something in the way he held himself, it was the posture of someone defeated, despite the fact that he had just won a battle. That made her wonder what had happened between the King and his son and if Legolas was to return at all. That thought saddened her quite a bit, it made her heart clench and she wondered what had driven her friend to leave in the first place. Asking either of the questions that plagued her would be more than inappropriate so she opted for a questions that was more expected to be asked of the Captain of Guard.  
"Who of my elves have you sent with him?". She knew the answer, of course. Had one of them left, she'd be the first to know, but she needed to know more, preferably without angering her King even more than she already did by merely existing.  
"None, Captain. I know the questions your heart urges you to ask but they are not mine to answer.", the King answered, managing to surprise her yet again. The king had a look of thoughtfulness on his face, which caused her to stay silent in hope for an addition to his last statement.  
He looked down on the fallen dwarf, then back at Tauriel. "He meant a lot to you, didn’t he? Was it him, your one love?"  
Tauriel couldn't help staring at her King blankly. That was definitely not a question she would have expected anyone to ask her, especially not her King but she felt obliged to answer truthfully. "No", she whispered.  
Thranduil looked her again, seemingly considering something. When he finally spoke, his voice was heavy but it also held some hope. "He has gone north to find a man known as Strider. I would grant you permission to go after him, if you asked for it."  
Her heart wanted to scream 'YES, a million times yes' but she feared the King was still displeased with her son's apparent feelings for her, so she remained silent, hoping for him to further explain his intentions.   
"I want you to consider it carefully, this mission may not be what you believe it is." His voice was low, almost threatening. When he finished speaking he took a step back, his proud face showed no hint of the conversation that had just passed between them. "Report to me tomorrow at dawn. I expect an update on your Guard, Captain." He then turned and left.  
Despite the words he had just spoken, Tauriel understood their meaning, at least to some extent. 'When you report status of your Guard, ask permission to go after Legolas, or don't, but consider it well because...' Well that was the part she didn't understand. She would have to know what her actual mission was, before answering that question. She knew it wouldn't be anything too absurd, since the King expected her to understand.  
'This mission may not be what you believe it is'  
What did he mean by that? What was it about? She honestly didn't know but she had made her decision as soon as Thranduil had suggested it.  
The next day at dawn she reported to the throne room and gave a status update on her Guard. When she had finished the King turned his back to her and she spoke: "My King, it has come to my ears that the Prince has left on a mission on his own and as the Captain of the royal Guard it is my duty to ensure the Prince is safe. Thus, I hereby request permission to go after him and fulfill my duty."  
"Well spoken, Captain." She could've sworn she saw a smile ghosting his lips. "I agree. You are expected to leave by midday, a horse has been readied and weapons and rations provided."  
Tauriel nodded and bowed. As she was about to open the door the King spoke again: "And, Tauriel", he waited until they were facing each other again, "Despite my own words, there might very well be hope." He smiled at her knowingly before dismissing her by a shake of his hand. 

 

During her search for Legolas she thought a lot about her conversation with her King but in all honesty she couldn't make sense of a few aspects, for example his last words: 'There might very well be hope' Hope for what? To make him return with her? Was that what he meant with 'This mission may not be what you believe it is'? She couldn't be sure but that was what she had intended to do anyway, that and finding out the reason for his departure.  
When she finally found him he was in the middle of fighting off a group of orcs. He was handling the situation pretty well but she decided to quicken the process and jump in. She took out her bow and shot at an orc that was trying to sneak up on him from behind. It fell with a grunt, making Legolas spin 360 degrees as to have a better overview of the situation. She knew he had seen her in the process, so she jumped in, drawing her twin blades and attacking a pair of orcs.  
"Your presence here surprises me", he stated simply, without turning to her, as he was still busy with the orcs. Legolas had never been an elf of many words, he preferred simple statements over long inquiries. That allowed him to learn more about them by judging their reactions.  
She laughed a little at that. "It would surprise me if you weren't" She said emphasizing the last word with a strike against one of the orcs, who fell down at her feet. They were now down to four. "But that is a story for a later time. You take those and I'll take down the ones trying to sneak up on me." She turned around, her twin blades crossed in front of the orc's head. She pulled her arms to her sides, cutting off the orc's head, then took a step forward stabbing the other orc in the chest, jumped and kicked it back so the orc was lying on the ground. She pulled out her blade and turned toward Legolas who had been watching her last move.  
"Well?", he asked, his right eyebrow raised.  
"Your father is a rather curious figure." She said, sheathing her blades.  
"You speak in riddles."  
"Thranduil did, too. He is the reason I'm here. He's sent me after you in the pretext of me being your reinforcement. He did not disclose to me what he actually wanted me to do."  
He frowned and turned on his heel, when he didn't hear the sound of her feet moving he stopped and looked half over his shoulder. "Follow me." He then continued walking.  
They made their way to his camp where he led her horse to the water and motioned her to sit on a boulder. He then sat on one a few feet away from her. She found that was strange, since they had been friends for many centuries and he would always sit fairly close to her, but she said nothing. She hadn't been very friendly with him lately, either. They remained in silence until he spoke, his gaze on the ground in front of him.  
"I do not know my father's intentions. I explicitly expressed my wish...", he seemed to reconsider what he had wanted to say, then sighed and continued, "not to be followed by you."  
She didn't know whether to be hurt by this it could've been just that he knew she would want to follow him but she sensed that that wasn't it, that it was her in particular that he didn't want to be followed by.   
"Why, Legolas?", she asked softly.   
"I needed to get away from everything for a while, a change of scenery."  
"If it is just that, why didn't you say goodbye to me but sent your father instead?"   
He closed his eyes and she could see him tense. She feared he would not answer at all but he did. His answer, though, only made her questions multiply.  
"I did not want to disclose to you the reason for my departure."  
What had happened between them? Hadn't they been the best of friends since they were little elflings? Why would he want to leave that he could not tell her? Why had Thranduil sent her after him if he knew? What made him say there was hope? This whole situation did not make sense to her, not at all.  
She could feel her sadness turning into frustration. She was frustrated at Legolas being this distant, uncommunicative self that he usually only was with strangers or people he did not feel comfortable with. He usually answered her questions satisfactorily. She was frustrated at Thranduil, at the battle, at the world, at everything. She put her face in her hands to regain her composure but to no avail, she had to know the reason for his departure, for his coldness toward her.  
"What is the reason? Why doesn't anybody tell me anything specific anymore?"  
He stood and walked a couple of steps away from her, then turned around again.  
"I wish I had the courage to tell you but you do not need to know."  
She had jumped up and now stood in front of the boulder she had sat on just a second ago.  
"But I do, I do need to know. We've been best friends for centuries, Legolas, and now you abandon me just like that, as if I meant nothing to, as if you never even liked me in the first place." She hadn't meant to yell at him like that but she couldn't stand it anymore.  
That seemed to anger Legolas, she could tell because his jaw was clenched as well as his fists. He took two steps forward and then said, not quite yelling yet: "You're accusing me of never having liked you? You're the one who went running off with a dwarf"  
"Kili has nothing to do with this."  
"No, you're right, he doesn't and I'm sorry for your loss but I cannot see you right now." His voice had softened considerably but was still forceful.  
"Because I was friends with a dwarf? I knew you don't like them but I would've never thought you'd disown me because I was friends with one." She couldn't believe it, hadn't he come after her although she was leaving to help a dwarf?  
"'Friends' is a bit of an understatement, isn't it?!", he said bitterly.  
"Oh, for goodness sake, that was all it was. What does it matter to you, anyway? Dwarves are fine creatures, very loyal, as opposed to a certain elf I know."  
"You dare call me disloyal? I was the one following you, despite my father's orders." They were back to yelling, again.  
"Oh yes, you did but what about now? You ran away, like a coward, because you didn't want to be friends with someone you thought loved a dwarf?"  
"I didn't want to be friends with you anymore because I couldn't stand the thought that you loved someone else", he shouted.

 

"What?", Tauriel asked in disbelief. Had he really just said what she thought he had?  
In the course of their disagreement they had come to stand way too close to each other.   
Legolas turned his head away and took in a breath.  
"I love you. There, I said it. Are you happy now?" He turned his head back to face her and glared at her.  
She looked him in the eyes. "As a matter of fact, yes, I am.", she said, the corners of her mouth quirking up in-voluntarily.  
"More than you know", she whispered and leaned in, to press her lips to his. He didn't respond but she started moving her lips nonetheless. He started moving his lips in sync with hers cautiously but Tauriel grew impatient with his lack of passion and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer and deepened the kiss. When his arms snaked around her waist she brushed her tongue against his lips and he granted her entrance.   
Legolas pulled away, breathless, and rested his forehead against hers.  
He was speechless, too, apparently, as he opened his mouth and the closed it again.  
"You weren't expecting that, were you?" She smiled at him, brilliantly.   
"No, indeed." He chuckled happily and leant in to kiss her again, no less passionately than the last time.


End file.
